A Capitol Tale
by Coriander Winston
Summary: It's Vita's first year of the whirlwind of Capitol parties and lavish gatherings to celebrate the Hunger Games, but this year is very different because of a girl named Katniss Everdeen
1. The 64th

A Capitol Tale

"Let's play Hunger Games!" Satine shouted. "I'll be the girl from Ten and you can be the girl from Eight!" She ran behind a perfectly manicured tree and looked out at me. "Ready?" she giggled.

"Ready," I giggled back. Then she jumped out from behind the tree and tried to look intimidating although her blue curls would always give her away. She walked up to me slowly. Although she was only five, she was always a realistic actress and knew how to put on a great show. The kids at school had always begged her to play with them but she had always refused, saving her talent for more intimate groups of four or five. I was a year her elder sister but, I had the better fighting skills.

"Ready to die, Eight?" she asked and pulled out a fake sword swinging it around. Smirking now, I walked toward her holding my own fake knife.

"Never," I said. And the battle began.

The 64 Annual Hunger Games had ended about a week ago and all the kids in the neighborhood had become obsessed with role-playing as the tributes. The girl from Eight had won that year and there had been some very unforgettable fights this year. The Bloodbath at the Cornucopia had killed off thirteen within the first two hours and overall these Games had been some of the most violent of all. It had ended with a final showdown between the girls from Eight and Ten, Eight winning by pushing Ten up against the Cornucopia and stabbing her to death.

Some of the other Capitol kids would even play in masses during school recesses and lunch breaks. Satine and I loved watching but that was as close as we went to those. The afternoons would go on like this. Playing and replaying the same battles, recreating the same interviews and Parade costumes from the Games until we could play no more and our feet would hurt. We were closer than any other duo our age and enjoyed each other's company always. We got so into it sometimes; Satine would even frizz her curls! That's how it was here. Always.


	2. The Reapings

**AN: Here's the next chapter and by the way this is my first fanfiction so any reviews are appreciated! Since we don't know a lot about the Capitol I just made a lot of the names of places up based on pictures from the movie. I don't own THG. I hope you like it!**

"Vita! Hurry up we're gonna be late and we'll miss District 4!" Satine yelled at me from downstairs. It was 7:00 am I was still fixing an enormous flower in my white hair that went nicely with my white dress and gave myself one last look in the mirror before rushing down the stairs.

"There you are! If we miss District 4 I'm gonna be so mad at you! They always have the hottest tributes!" she complained. We were going over to my friend Stellan's house to watch the Reaping on their screen, and for reasons beyond me Satine was obsessed with District Four. I personally liked Five and Eleven the best. They churned out the best underdogs.

"Bye Mother we're leaving!" I called out to our Mother from the sleek, white-washed entry hall. I heard small "click, clocks" coming toward us and soon Mother came out in her bright Orange and black dress with silver leaf heels.

"Oh you girls look stunning," she said. We smiled and shuffled our feet. "I don't want to keep you girls waiting though, so go out there and have some fun! Happy Hunger Games!"

"Happy Hunger Games, Mother!" we cheered back to her. We walked briskly outside to the sidewalk near the river, which was right outside our door. Stellan lived in one of the high rise penthouses in the center of the Capitol with a great view and an even better place to have parties. He always threw the most amazing viewing parties with a screen so big it even rivaled the Commons!

We walked down the street and to the subway stop which would take us directly to the building where Stellan lived.

At the stop, Satine turned to me. "I hear Jace is gonna be there," she said in a quiet but excited tone. She nudged me with her elbow and I nudged back. "Shut up," I said. "I don't like him anymore. And nothing you can say will make me change my mind." The glass subway pulled up and we boarded.

"What if I told you that I saw him last week and he looks like the younger version of Finnick Odair?" she teased. I glared at her. She knew my weak spot. "And he dyed his hair black and you would look so cute with him with your contrasting white tones. Ugh! Perfection!" she said in a sing-song voice. It's true though, black and white does look great together.

"I hear Henson is going to be there," I said teasing her back. Satine was practically in love with Henson. She wasn't the only one who knew how to use weak spots.

She mock pouted. "Fine. Truce." she said blushing a little. The subway pulled up in front of the building. We walked across the street and into the building. Once we got to Stellan's penthouse we were greeted by bright, smiling faces.

"Vita! Satine! You're just in time! District 1 hasn't even started yet," Stellan chirped happily and we took our seats in the huge viewing room. We found a couple on nice spots on the plush couch next to some of our friends from school. There wasn't much time for chatter as the screen snapped on with the flag of Panem and Ceasar Flickerman greeted us.

"Greetings, citizens of Panem! And welcome to the Reaping Day of the 74th Annual Hunger Games!" Everyone in the room cheered, glad it was finally starting. "Our first on the list: District 1!"

The screen flashed to the town center of District 1, which produced luxury items for us. It was remarkable how close it looked to the Capitol. Dolly Matrine, who was the escort District 1 and mother of Stellan, appeared on the screen and asked, "Should we do girls or boys first?" Everyone in the room was screaming their answer and everyone in One was yelling theirs too.

"Boys it is!" Dolly exclaimed and dug her hand deep into the glass bowl. She pulled out the name of a fifteen year old. Who reluctantly walked up until-

"I volunteer!"Out of the crowd walked a boy of 17. He swaggered down to the stage accompanied by great applause. "What is your name?" Dolly asked. "Marvel Candor," he announced. "Well it looks like we have a volunteer from District 1!" she said. Then came the girl. This time it was a 16-year old who was reaped and we heard another, quieter "I volunteer." She bounced down to the stage and smiled at Marvel who she must've known before. It was known that One, Two, and Four trained their kids to be in the Games.

"What is your name?" Dolly asked again. "Glimmer Trapp," she said. She looked calm and almost amused at everyone looking at her. The boys all whistled. I had to admit she was really pretty. Dolly announced their names again and they shook hands and walked inside. The crowd went wild.

Then the screen went to Two, where a girl volunteered in place of a thirteen year old. Her name was Clove. They boy was what people were talking about. He volunteered in place of a boy the same age as him but everyone seemed to want him to. His name was Cato and he was tall, blonde, and extremely intimidating.

"I wouldn't want to be in the arena with him!" said one of the boys in the room. We all laughed and nodded in agreement. The rest of the Reapings went on.

In the middle of Four, Jace showed up. He came in quietly and no one would've noticed him if it weren't for the fact that Henson greeted him loudly. I don't think he noticed me but I sure noticed him. He _did _look a bit like a black haired version of Finnick.

No one was overly memorable except for the girl from Eleven. She was the youngest tribute in the games and her name was Rue, or something. I was definitely going to try to sponsor her. But the most dramatic Reaping was Twelve by far. Another twelve-year-old was reaped but then her sister volunteered in her place. Katniss Everdeen, they said her name was. Her volunteer surprised all of us. No one _ever_ volunteered in Tweleve. The Games were a curse to them. The boy was much less emotional. His name was Peeta Mellark.

After it was all the Reapings were over, we placed bets. Stellan had a betting table that displayed holograms of each of the tributes. I thought the boy from Two or the girl from Five would win. Cato was a popular bet among all. Jace spoke up and decided to be different, "I think that girl from Twelve will win. There's something about her…" We all looked hat Twelve's holograms for a minute. I had to agree with him, she looked strong and her love for her sister would definitely be a driving force.

"I agree. I'm changing my bet from Five to Twelve, although I'll keep an eye on Five," I said and tapped Katniss's name on the table. "Even her name… Katniss Everdeen. Sounds like the name of a Victor. Remember that name," I said. Right then, I could tell all of us secretly agreed. "Wise choice, Vita," Jace looked at me and said. I just smiled.

"I'm always for the underdogs," I said.

On our way back, Satine complained about neither of Four's tributes being as hot as Finnick. "But the boy from Twelve...uh… Pete or something. He's hot!" I laughed and agreed as the glass subway pulled up to our stop.


	3. The Hunger Games Season

AN: See if you can find the Alexander Ludwig quote.

We came home that afternoon to find our father in his office rewatching the Reapings and Mother out shopping. Our father was the Stylist for Five and unlike Satine, I loved to see what he was working on for the tributes.

"Vita!" He looked up and smiled when he saw me. "So I saw District 5 and you know that redhead girl? I already know what I want for her interview dress."

He flipped open his famous shiny black notebook to a page with a slim figure with a dress that seemed to be made of clear turquoise water spilling over in layer after layer.

"So what do you think? Would you wear it?" he asked. I nodded almost violently. He smiled. "I'm guessing you like it."

"Yes! I love it! It's perfect!" I told him. He looked up from the drawing with a twinkle in his eye. "Good because I'm making you a dress." I almost fell over with joy.

"What? You are?" I yelled jumping up and down. Then I stopped for a moment. "Why?" This time his smile was radiating happiness and I couldn't help but smile myself.

"Because you and Satine have third row seats for the interviews!" I started my screaming and jumping again.

This was huge! The interviews were not only my favorite part of the Games but also the biggest social event of the season! It is where the stylists set the season's trends (with the tributes as models), where you can (of course) watch the tributes' interviews and everybody who's anybody is there sitting in the first five rows. The interviews were not only a whirlwind for the tributes but if you go, you _have_ to look your best. Hire your own prep team if you have to. If you are sitting in the first five rows, you know you've made it to the top of the Capitol's social ladder.

Over the past couple of years, I have to say Satine and I have climbed the social ladder. Our father is a stylist so we have all the new trends, we have an in with all the Gamemakers and anybody of importance and we go to the best parties. We really were livin' it up. And this year's Hunger Games was going to set in stone our height in society.

In the Capitol, the Hunger Games was the peak of the year, the holiday season. The Reaping kicks off the parties with viewing parties and such. Then the Tribute Parade was like a pep rally and where we can see the tributes up close for the first time. The Parade was crazy with the 48 rows of people all crowding around to get a glimpse of the costumes while they rolled down the Avenue of the Tributes. We usually didn't have good seats for the parade because Father was dressing his tributes.

Then as training goes on and we hear updates, and the tributes get their final score people see who they want to sponsor. Then there are the interviews which is the peak of excitement and fun as everyone in the Capitol comes out trying to out-dazzle one another and see the fashion show (and the actual interviews too). Then the Games begin and there are just more viewings. People either have private parties or they go to the City Circle.

The City Circle is where I might go on the first night. All the kids my age always go there. The City Circle has great energy during the Hunger Games. It has the largest screen in Panem, the surrounding shops all have copies of the tribute's tokens and gear to show who you support. The Hunger Games season was really quite fun and this year I'm finally old enough to get into all the parties. Even Satine was looking forward to it.

Then the last event was the Victor Crowning. This event was less of a fashion statement and more of a black-tie event. After watching the recaps and the interviews, the Head Gamemaker usually holds a ball to celebrate the end with a bang. This too was a coveted invitation. The most lavish party of the year. Whereas the Interviews was like a social event, this was to celebrate the Elite of the Capitol. Of course Mother and Father would go. Children usually don't attend the Gamemaker's Ball but we throw our own parties instead.

Right now was just waiting for the tributes to arrive. Everyone was preparing themselves for the Hunger Games and for some reason I felt that this year would be unforgettable.


	4. Tomorrow They'll be wearing Flames

AN: I still don't own the Hunger Games. If you want to see where I pictured Vita's family living, go to this link watch?v=p7RGguhrlSU and pause it at 0:22 seconds. I imagined their house just below this shot. That whole video is where I get a lot of my ideas for scenes from. Hope you like it! I ,ight not be on for next few days because I'm on vacation but I will remember to update when I get back!

Satine and I sat in front of our home screen watching yet another train pulls up. Seven. The boy and the girl stepped off the train and into the adoring crowd. They looked in a daze almost dreading this moment. I wondered why. They were famous now! They were fawned on by everyone in the Capitol and pampered to the upmost degree.

"I like what she did to her hair, remind me to do that sometime," said Satine breaking my thoughtful silence. I just nodded.

Satine and I were alike and different in many ways. Satine was more outgoing and did better in public situations. She and I both enjoyed fashion but I if I were a designer, she would be the model. I was quieter but not silent. We looked very similar too. We both had the same olive completion as our parents and green eyes.

Later on in the day we would be going to the Tribute Parade. Satine and Mother usually stayed home and watched the Parade on the screen while Father and I went backstage to help. The Tribute Parade would soon be in a few hours.

I got up off the couch. "Where are you going?" Satine asked.

"My room," I replied. She gave me a thumbs up. I walked out into the hallway and upstairs into my room. I picked up the remote and sat on my bed. I clicked a button and the curtains opened onto my view of the river and the front yard. I loved this part of town. It was always relatively quiet but not deserted. There was always a very small, steady stream of people strolling into town or to their house. And sometimes we saw a car.

Cars in the Capitol were very rare as only high officials close to President Snow had them. Other than that we had no need for them. We either walked or took a glass subway everywhere.

I clicked another button and a screen materialized at the bottom of my bed. I brought it closer. I hummed as I looked through some webs of clothes to get inspiration as to what I might wear tonight. I particularly liked the escort from Tweleve's web. Effie Trinket. Great style always setting new trends. She's the one who made it popular to carry a birdcage.

I scrolled some more until I found what to wear. It was a forest green silk dress with black accents. I think I would wear my fan-hat of the same color green with my dress that looked somewhat similar to this. After all, the tributes need to see me looking nice.

"Deng-deng-deng! Deng-deng-deng!" The screen flipped to show me my father on the other end of the call.

"Vita, I'm ready for you to come anytime you want now. The tribute will be getting here soon," Father said. "Apolla is just making some finishing touches and we'll be ready to go."

Apolla was the other stylist for Five. She was always nice to me. I checked myself in the mirror. "I think I'll go in about twenty minutes so I'll see you soon," I said.

"Great see you then. Happy Hunger Games!"and the screen flipped back to the dress I was looking at. I clicked the remote and the screen shut down. I walked over to my closet door and scrolled through the outfits on the touch screen. When I touched accept the closet door opened into my dressing room with the outfit hanging there. I slipped it on carefully and just let my hair down. I sighed. If you ever dye your hair, make it white. It goes with everything.

I walked out of the dressing room and out of my room. As I passed the viewing room I saw Satine watching _Hunger Games: The Last Five Years in Recap with Ceasar Flickerman_ _and Claudius Templesmith_ on the screen, knowing the familiar theme song of trumpets.

"You leaving?"she asked. I nodded. "Grab some of the backstage food while you're there would you? You know how I love those Berry Beads." I laughed.

"I will. I'll see you later! Happy Hunger Games!" I called as I walked out of the room and out the door.

I walked down to the subway stop and it took me right outside the Avenue. I walked up to a door on the side of the garage where the chariots would be coming out. I flashed my pass and the door opened for me. I walked down a hallway into the main garage where I saw my Dad standing outside a dressing room waiting for the girl to come out.

"Ah, well if it isn't my little mockingjay!" Father greeted me warmly with an embrace. An avox walked up to me and served me some small green delicacy inside a shell. It must've been from Four. "Wait until you see what I've come up with this year," he happily chirped. At that moment, the girl from Five walked out of the room with Apolla in a bright, sequined frock and a headdress that surrounded her face. She looked nervous but she almost seemed to glow.

I smiled, "She looks great, Father! She's like a power plant worker." I look back at Father approvingly. I turn back to the girl. "I'm Vita. What's your name?"

She smiles, a little less tense now. "I'm Fawn," she says. I smile. I loved that name.

"Well, Fawn. Knock 'em dead," I say. For some reason she falters a little then says, "I'll try."

Father let me walk around the garage until something catches my eye. Twelve. I walk over. There's a new stylist for Twelve and his name is Cinna. He had come over for dinner at our house once as a "Welcome to the Stylist Team" kinda party. Since then, Father and he have become great friends.

"Hey Cinna! Happy Hunger Games!" I say as I walk over. He looks up and smiles at me. "Vita, great to see you again," he says very calmly. I notice that the girl was staring at me. I smile at her. She keeps staring.

"Katniss, right?" I ask. She nods. "I'm Vita," I announce as Portia walks up behind me. "Rhymes with Peeta!" she says and I laugh. Katniss only smiles a little. And the boy-Peeta walks up behind Portia.

Cinna introduces me. "Peeta, Katniss, this is Vita. Her father is a stylist for District Five." I smile proudly. Peeta is a little more polite. "I'm Peeta Mellark," he says holding out his hand. I smile brightly.

"It's great to meet you two. Katniss, you were so inspiring the way you volunteered for your sister and Peeta," I lean in closer. "My sister thinks you're good looking." I laugh and he looks at his feet and blushes a little.

"Thank you," Katniss says with an unreadable emotion. Then we all jump a little as the annoucement that it's "Five minutes 'till showtime" is heard.

"I guess I better go help my father. Good luck out there tonight!" I say as I turn to walk away. I can hear Peeta say a small "Bye" but it's drowned out over the loud and hurried talking of the stylists making finishing touches.

"Apolla can you hand me the needle and thread?" I hear Father yelling as I walk up. Apolla runs to the table and grabs the two items and runs back to him, almost tripping on her heels. She hands him the stuff and he starts to sew something up on the boy's arm. No one is noticing me now because they are working intently on their tributes.

Fawn sees me though. She smiles. She looks as though she is about to say something then she is distracted by Father and Apolla who are now loading her and the boy onto the chariot. All the tributes are now on their chariots and in a straight line across the garage. The stylists touch the tributes up for the last time when something turns everyone's eye.

Cinna lit Peeta and Katniss on fire. No one does anything for a second except stare. Peeta and Katniss look amazed and almost scared. Everyone in the room looked amazed and almost scared. I could see a slight smile spreading across Cinna's face. If I were him, I'd be very pleased with my work too.

Then one by one, the horses lurch foreword. Surprising me but no one else. When Twelve has left, Father, Apolla and I walk over to Cinna who is now crowded around with stylists. We second guess our walk over there and start to walk back to our station. Prep teams all congratulating him on his work and begging for his secrets. He waves all the questions off with a nod and a smile. Portia looks happy with her partner as well. Eventually, the small crowd disperses to watch the Parade and Cinna is left alone cleaning up his station. He stops for a moment and looks up to the screen where the Twelve chariot is almost at the end.

"You have every reason to be smiling," I say walking up to him. "What you do will set off a load of trends and copycats, all dying to have the same effect as this. None of them will though. What you did tonight was...incomparable. Magical." He turns to me.

"Thank you, Vita. That really means a lot," Cinna says as he looks down at his feet and turns back to the screen where the cheers from outside are amplified to surround us. *************************************************************************************

"Did you get me any Berry Beads?" Satine asks as she and Mother sit sleepily in the viewing room. It's about midnight when Father and I arrive home late because of the long-lasting praise of Cinna and his talent.

I laugh and smack my forehead melodramatically. "Oh! I have forgotten. I am so terribly sorry!" Satine mock pouts and Mother asks me how it was.

"Amazing!" I said. "The energy was amazing and Father did a great job. That girl from Five is great. Her name is...er..Fawn. I hope she wins."

"Slow down there, subway! You're talking at the speed of light!" said Mother. This time, it was my turn to pout.

"I also met both from Twelve," I bragged. At this, Satine's eyes widened.

"Did you tell her you bet on her?" she asked. I nodded no, which received a large sigh from her. "But their costumes were amazing anyways," she said. We all agreed on that.

Then Mother said it was time for bed so we turned off the screen and trudged tiredly upstairs. Watch and see that tomorrow, everyone would be wearing flames.


	5. Training

**AN: I still don't own the Hunger Games. I owe an apology to anyone who checks to see if I've updated. I will really try to finish the story before summer ends!**

The next day was a radiant. The sun shone brightly down on the Capitol from a sky as blue as the ocean in Four. And I was right.

Today was the perfect day for fire.

As Satine and I walked out of our door we were greeted with fiery colors everywhere we looked. Not one person on our street wasn't wearing the flames.

Sequins. Satin. Red. Orange.

The closer we got to the heart of town, the more extravagant the outfits were.

Glowing. Yellow. Shiny. Black.

At one point, we saw a woman who had her hair up in the shape of a flame, attracting the attention of anyone who passed her.

We were wearing flames too. I was wearing a short, sparkly, marigold number with smoky tones at the hemline. Satine was wearing a golden coat of sequins with a tribal-looking, fire colored dress underneath. We looked great if I do say so myself.

Even Mother, who wasn't even supposed to support Twelve, was wearing fiery colors. From a high place, it seemed like the entire City Circle was ablaze.

We finished our people watching and walked inside the Tribute Center lobby. Today began a three day period of tribute training. You could come in here and see snippets of what they were doing inside but you never fully saw.

It was 11:00 am, so the tributes would have already started their training. People lounged around the lobby holding drinks and finger food and talking to one another about the Parade or who they support. Although it seemed like everyone loved Twelve for the moment. But that's how the Capitol worked: nothing is the same for more than a day. Tomorrow, everyone would go back to wearing anything to support their District.

I sat down on the white leather couch and Satine plopped down next to me. "Do you think that Henson will be at the Kick-off party?" she asked. Every year, President Snow hosted a get-together for the little ones: The Hunger Games Kick-Off Party. Although that name was too long so everyone just called it the Party. It was fun for younger kids and even kids my age, but there were better parties out there and they censored some of the content at the Party.

"I don't know, I'm not going to that one."

Her face fell. "What? Where are you going then?" Now I felt a little sorry for saying that. We had always gone together.

"To the City Circle," I said casually. She pouted. You had to be sixteen to go to the City Circle viewings. She had to wait one more year. Everybody knew that these were the best viewings. People was cheered and watched intently at the same time. The energy was undeniable fast pace. It was amazing. Everyone who goes has a great time. You usually gathered with the other people your age and you placed bets, you try to predict deaths, it was really quite fun. From what I heard.

"Do you think Henson will go to the City Circle?" I shrugged. Henson Tarageon was sixteen too. There was a chance he would go, knowing his friends probably would. But he had a lot of friends, so really, there was no way to tell.

"He's hard to predict. He might go to either the party, or the City Circle. But there's a chance he might go to a private viewing." I said. Again, Satine pouted. I wasn't helping her spirits much today.

"We could go get some food. Would you like that?" I asked. She glared at me.

"Vita, I'm only a year younger than you. Don't baby me like that." I was a little taken aback at this. Satine was always sweet. She must be really angry at me. So I paid for her tart too.

It was the last day of training. The day before interviews.

Mother, Satine, Fabienne (one of my friends), and I all crowded together in the viewing room of our house. Fabienne had been here early on in the day to help with what we should wear to the interviews. Something bright and poufy, she had said. Fab had the inside scoop on what One would be wearing, so she naturally told everyone. Stylists weren't supposed to tell what the tributes were going to wear but most of them leaked out small details like that. Even though Father doesn't. Ever. He may show us the initial design, but other than that, it is top secret.

Fab was getting fidgety, I could see, pulling at the fringe on her shoulder. We all were really. The tension from waiting to hear the final training scores from our tributes was practically tangible. That was one bad thing about Capitol TV. They try to build suspense too much.

"As you know, tributes were rated on a scale of one to twelve after three days of careful evaluation," said onscreen Ceasar. We all perked up, waiting still. He continued on until we hear him announcing names. From District One: Marvel with a score of 9…. From District Two and so on.

"From District Five: Fawn with a score of 5."

We all looked a bit saddened at that. Except for Fab. She supported One who always got high scores.

The show continued and no one got anything in particular until it came to that Katniss girl.

Eleven.

Even Ceasar, who is never surprised, was shocked to hear that. _No one _gets an eleven. _No one._

I turned to Satine. "See? I told you to keep an eye on Twelve!


End file.
